


fool’s mate

by bakarasaka



Category: Danganronpa
Genre: (Or is it?), Oma Kokichi-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Ouma not Oma, POV Oma Kokichi, Reincarnation, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:41:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakarasaka/pseuds/bakarasaka
Summary: “Why the fuck do you lie, asshole!?” Iruma spat, spittle flying into Ouma’s face. The leader wrinkled his nose and turned to walk away.“Y-yeah, Ouma-kun,” Saihara said softly, stopping the boy in his tracks. “Why do you lie?”A thousand possible answers (lies) went through the purple haired boy’s head before he decided on an one. The truth.“Oh!” Ouma turned, fake smile in place. “I lie for my fallen friends and family!”“What the hell kind of answer is that?” Momota exclaimed, looking at the leader incredulously.♚In which the Ultimate Supreme Leader goes through multiple games of despair.
Relationships: Celestia Ludenberg & Oma Kokichi, Class 78 & Oma Kokichi, Kirigiri Kyoko & Oma Kokichi, Oma Kokichi & Everyone
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	fool’s mate

**Author's Note:**

> A fool’s move is the fastest way to earn a checkmate and because Kokichi is so chess-coded I thought it would be appropriate. I don’t own any of the characters from Danganronpa, they all go to the creator of the series. There is going to be a lot more characters and relationships so I will update the tags once they become apparent. So let’s try this a second time, shall we?

As Ouma threw the tennis ball one of his dogs was playing with across the yard, he thought about the acceptance letter that has arrived that afternoon. Hope’s Peak Academy wanted him for their 79th class of Ultimate students. 

_Ultimate Supreme Leader, eh?_ Ouma smirked as he pet the ferret on his shoulders.  _Sounds like something I could do._

Ouma had a total of ten pets. Two dogs, a duck, a ferret, two rats and three turtles. They were all equally important and Ouma planned to take over the world with them. 

The small boy snickered as the dog dropped the slobbery ball at his feet, and looked up with uncontainable joy. As he got ready to throw it, Ouma heard his brother’s voice from the back porch. 

“Kokichi! Get yourself in here, it’s time for dinner!”

Ouma stuck his tongue out in his brother’s general direction. “Eat shit!”

“And don’t forget to wash your hands!” The door slammed behind him, and Ouma giggled as he imagined his brother fuming. 

The purple haired boy gathered all of this animals’ toys, deposited them in their bucket on the porch, than headed in to eat his food. 

♚

When Ouma awoke, he had a splitting headache. 

“Ugh...what happened?” He groaned, groggy. There was a breeze on his neck, and the leader immediately sat up in alarm. 

_Where’s Suimin?_ Ouma scoured the room for his ferret, but became worried when he couldn’t find her. All he saw was bolted windows, surveillance cameras, and a crudely written note. 

_ Wait, what? _

Ouma pushes his anxiety away for the time being to focus on the strange objects in the room. The camera seemed to be following the turn of his head, the boy noted, shivering a little. 

The purple haired boy tried to ignore the camera as he turned to the window coverings. Ouma stepped lightly towards the giant panels, and hesitated before knocking. 

_ Bang! Bang! Bang! _

Ouma quickly stepped away from the window and waited a moment. 

Not a trap, good. 

He turned his attention to the next things that caught his eye, the note on the desk. Ouma picked it up with his thumb and pointer finger as he eyed it with distaste. 

**_ HEy there new kiD! the Next semesters is about to started. starting To Day the SchOol wil be you’re enT i re WO r ld! G O O D L U C K! _ **

Ouma cringed was he placed the note down. This room was too kid for his taste, with the clashing walls paper and oddly dirty wooden floors. He opened the door, hoping for better and rolled his eyes when he saw the weirdly lit hallways. 

_I though this school was supposed to be super classy or something. Instead it looks like my Gran’s kitchen without the feeling of comfort._

Ouma pauses as he thought of home. Was that where his animals were? At home? If so, the boy could only hope that his brother was treating them well in his absence. 

The leader pushed that to the back of his mind and continued his way to the main hall. When he entered he sighed in relief.  _ Thank God, the lights are normal again.  _

Ouma ignored the weird looks thrown his way and flocked toward the giant metal door covering the exit with a frown. He repeated what he did with the window panels and his frown deepened when nothing happened. 

_ Now what? _

“Hey, you!”

Ouma spun around and recoiled when he got an eyeful of white cloth. The smaller boy shoved the other student off of him and looked up. 

“What are you doing here, child! This is a high school!” The taller boy shouted. He had deep black hair, intense red eyes and huge eyebrows. He stood as if he was in the military, but all his booming voice accomplished was worsening Ouma’s headache. 

“What do you mean  ‘child’ ? I’m fifteen years old, buddy,” the leader protested, crossing his arms and pouting childishly. 

The other boy paled and scrambled to respond. “O-oh! I am so sorry! My apologies, um,” he paused. “What’s your name?”

Ouma’s pout deflated as a mischievous smile took its place. “Ouma Kokichi, Ultimate Supreme Leader,” he held his hand out for the other to shake. “And you are?”

The taller boy straightened up even more, if that was even possible. “Ishimaru Kiyotaka. Ultimate Moral Compass. Pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Newly dubbed Ishimaru shook his hand almost robotically, stiff and jerky. The purple haired boy retracted his hand and turned sharply as he saw a girl right behind him out of the side of his eye. 

“Woah,” he leaned forward, widening his eyes and staring at her with childish wonder. “Did you teleport, Witch-chan?”

The girl lifted her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. “No, Ouma-san, I did not teleport. I am just- ah- light on my feet.”

Ouma looked down and snorted. “In those heels?”

The girl had long black drills, a gothic lolita style dress and her red eyes had a calculating glint to them. As intimidating as she seemed, she smiled warmly down at Ouma. 

“Heh, heh, heh,” the girl laughed. “You are amusing, Ouma-san. My name is Ludenburg Celestia, however, please call me Celeste. I am the Ultimate Gambler.”

_ Well that explains the look in her eye... _

Ouma reached out for Ludenburg’s hand, and gave a little kiss to the top of it. “Please don’t make me play for my life, Witch-chan.”

Ludenburg just chuckled cryptically, eyes glinting. 

There was a chime on Ouma’s wristwatch, which caused him to look down at the time. _Eight O’clock._ _ Guess it was time for whatever this all was to begin. _

The leader leaned back against the wall, behind Ludenburg and studied an average, if a bit short looking guy stumble in, almost immediately getting bombarded by Ishimaru. As he studied the boy more, he felt almost guilty. As if he caused the boy to be late. Ouma shook that thought away. There was no way he caused that, he has never seen the boy before. He slowly walked the boy’s way. 

“-your problem? It’s not like he  wanted  to be late,” a girl with long red nails running through her huge light pink hair, pulled back in two pigtails reasoned. 

“She’s right!” The purple haired boy agreed, laughing when everyone jumped. “Poor boy didn’t have any control over it!”

An athletic, tan girl with a red sports jacket intervened. “C’mon guys! Can’t we just all calm down, we might think clearer. How about we introduce ourselves as well!”

“The hell? Why do we need to introduce ourselves? Sounds like a load of shit to me,” A burly teen with an interesting hairdo replied. 

“How else are we supposed to communicate with others if we do not know their names?” Ludenburg asked from the back of the room, making Ouma snicker as everyone jumped again. 

“You have a point there...” An androgynous teen replied shyly. 

“Great! So introductions first, and we can worry about all the  other stuff  afterwards, mkay!” Ouma smiled, moving his hands behind his head. “I’m Ouma Kokichi, the Ultimate Supreme Leader! Only of my animals of course!”

Ishimaru straightened, bowed and yelled in his booming voice; “Ishimaru Kiyotaka, the Ultimate Moral Compass! Pleased to meet you all!”

“Yeesh,” A boy with bright red hair, numerous piercings and a goatee muttered, scratching his neck and raising his voice. “There’s no need to yell, man. Kuwata Leon, Ultimate Baseball Star.”

“The man’s just exerting his dominance,” a horribly obese teen snickered, pushing up his glasses. “I can respect that. Ultimate Fanfic Creator, Yamada Hifumi.”

“Bleh, manly honor,” the pink haired girl from earlier said. “I’m Enoshima Junko, the Ultimate Fashionista”

“Maizono Sayaka, the Ultimate Pop Sensation,” a girl with long blue hair and a simple school uniform said. “Ultimate Fashionista, huh? Maybe we can exchange tips sometime.”

“Uh, um, I’m Fujisaki Chihiro, the Ultimate Programmer,” the androgynous teen stuttered, gripping their hands tightly. 

“Aww, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” the same athletic girl from before cooed. “We’ll work together to get out of here! I swear on all my medals!”

“Tch.” A stiff blond boy with surprisingly cheap looking glasses sneered. “If we don’t know your name, then how are we supposed to trust your  medals ?” He spat out the word medals like it was poison. 

“Oh, I’m Asahina Aoi,” the girl responded, bouncing on the balls of her feet, making Ouma dizzy when she abruptly stopped. 

The leader stopped listening at that point, only processing the names and talents of his classmates over his terrible headache. 

“Naegi Makoto. Now wha-“

_ DING DONG, BING BONG.  _

Everyone froze at the sound. Slowly, Ouma turned his view to the monitor that was bolted to the upper wall, above the door to the gym. A staticky picture overtook the darkness of before and a voice spoke from it. 

“ _Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then-! ” The voice was eerily childlike, light and joyful, which in itself made a shiver go down Ouma’s spine. It sounded so out of place, even in a school, and for some odd reason, hearing it made Ouma want to be sick from nerves. “ Ahh, to all of the incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at- well, right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. That's all. I'll be waiting!_ ” 

The monitor turned off with a click, static being replaced with black once again. And still, everyone remained silent, staring at the monitor. Ouma wondered if they felt the same unease that plagued his mind since the moment he awoke without his animals. 

“What. The. Hell was that,” Enoshima said. 

Togami scoffed. “Obviously that was whoever is holding us here. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” The heir walked out of them room as fast as Ouma could scale a tree, which is pretty damn fast. 

“H-Hey,” Kuwata called after him. “Why the hell are you following that ominous voice to your certain doom!”

When there was no response from the blonde, the baseball player sighed and sprinted after him, Fujisaki quickly following, along with Fukuwa. 

“This-This doesn’t seem right,” Maizono hugged herself tightly as she shuddered in what Ouma assumed was fear.

“Yeah,” Enoshima agreed, twirling her hair between her fingers. “that announcement was totally weird.”

“Maybe, but just staying put doesn't mean we'll be safe,” Kirigiri said, a minuscule smile grew on her lips. “Besides, aren't you guys just a little bit curious to find out what's going on around here?”

Ouma laughed at the purple haired girl, spooking most of the class with the sudden noise. The leader strolled over to her and grinned. “That seems like the greatest idea, Kirigiri-chan! May I escort you to the gym?”

Kirigiri seemed to stifled a smile and took Ouma’s offer by wrapping her arm around his. The two had gotten some distance away before he looked back. “Witch-chan! Come on! I’ll escort you too!”

Ludenburg didn’t suppress her smile as she chuckled and grabbed Ouma’s other arm. “Lead on, Ouma-kun.”

When the trio got into the empty hallway Ouma dropped both his arms and his mask, staring at the girls with a blank face. “Something isn’t fucking right with this place.”

Ludenburg hummed in response. “My phone was not one of my belongings that made it into the school. Nor my cat, who I was very careful about moving.”

“Huh,” Kirigiri tapped her pointer finger on her lips. “Neither my phone or my PDA have followed me in here either. And I see that you seem quite out of animals for a supreme leader of them, Ouma-kun.”

Ouma nodded, shivering as the air on his neck registered with his brain. “I normally have at least one of my ferrets on me at all times, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that they are here since I woke up.” The boy smiled weakly. “But who knows! I might be wrong! Maybe this is all just the schools weird procedure for freshman!”

Ludenburg brought a hand to her mouth and smothered laughed. “Oh, Ouma-kun. You can’t lie as well as you think you can.”

“Pfft,” Kirigiri snickered as well. “You have so many tells.”

Ouma pouted at the girls, dropping his act. “Fine, whatever, I suck.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” Ludenburg said. “You just have many tells, that’s all. If you’d like me to teach you how to lie, I’ll gladly do it.”

“Really?” Ouma’s eyes seemed to sparkle. “I’d love that!”

Kirigiri rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you should be planning ‘lying lessons’ in front of another classmate? That seems mighty suspicious.”

“Oh,” Ludenburg looked at the other girl. “As if you wouldn’t want to help the poor boy as well, Kirigiri-san.”

“Hmm,” Kirigiri replied, wrapping her arm back around Ouma’s. “I would, but we really should be getting into the gym. We need to figure this whole thing out.”

“Oh how right you are,” Ludenburg wrapped her arm around Ouma’s free one and the three began walking. 

After a few steps Ouma whispered to no one in particular; “Is this what flirting sounds like?” He received two feet stepping on his own and yelped as the girls laughed. 

The three eventually reached the gym, with Ouma whining and the girls smiling. The three of them walked in through the door, expecting nothing out of the ordinary and receiving such. Most of Ouma’s classmates were there, excluding Naegi, Maizono and Enoshima. This room seemed just like the others, any windows there were were covered by steel plates, sealing them all in. Once the three missing students entered the gym, the doors slamming shut behind them, the room felt less like a gathering area and more like a tomb. Ouma shivered, wishing he at least had Suimin, whom he had owned the longest, there to help with his anxiety. 

If one of those bastards who trapped them in here harmed his animals, they would fucking pay. 

“Oh,” Naegi says. “It really does just look like an entrance ceremony...”

“See! I told ya!” Enoshima laughs. “It’s totally normal!”

No one else seemed convinced. 

“ _ Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling! _ ” The same voice as on the monitor spoke, startling the teenagers as a monochromatic bear popped up onto the podium. It was half white, half black, seeming like a totally normal teddy bear on the white side, and the opposite on the black side, having a red eye that was spiky and in a particular pattern. 

“H-huh?” Fujisaki whimpered. “A teddy bear?”

“I am not a teddy bear!” The teddy bear yelled in a squeaky voice that sent chills down the leader’s spine and made his previously receding headache come rushing back. This was the same childish voice that he had expected from the terrible handwriting on the card. “I am Monokuma! This school’s headmaster! Nice to meet you!”

_Ok_ , Ouma thought.  _I have officially gone insane. This is hell._

“Wahh!” Yamada shrieked, almost falling backwards. “The teddy bear can talk!”

“I am not a teddy bear!” The bear, Monokuma screeched back, throwing his arms up for emphasis. “I’m Monokuma! And I am your headmaster!”

In background of Ouma’s thought he noted Yamada actually falling backwards this time, yelling; “IT MOVED! IT-“

“Seriously dude! Chill!” Owada groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s probably just a remote control toy with a speaker or some shit.”

“Gasp!” Monokuma placed his hands over his mouth in mock-surprise. “How dare you compare me to a child’s play thing! That cuts me deep-“ He then seemed to laugh, moving his hands to his stomach. “My systems are wayyyyy more complex than even NASA’s systems! Just don’t tell NASA that, they might not be able to bear it!”

“‘Bear’ it?” Ludenberg rolled her eyes. “You are quite... unfortunate.” Ouma snickered at the girl’s distaste. 

“Now then, moving on!” Monokuma spoke again, seemingly ignoring Ludenburg’s comment. “We really must hurry and get started...” 

“What, giving up already?” Enoshima narrowed her eyes. “No more stupid bear puns?”

“Shhhhh!” The bear replied.

Ouma’s eyes flicked between the two individuals. That banter seemed pretty familiar... Was it just him or... did she know the bear? (In the back of his mind he registered Ogami mutter something under her breath, making Asahina giggle anxiously.)

“Now then! Everyone stand at attention and bow! Good morning students!” Monokuma said, seemingly clasping his hands together. 

Of course Ishimaru swiftly bowed in a jerky motion, before screaming his reply back to the bear. “Good morning!!”

Fukawa startled at the volume, clutching her braids. “Y-you don’t have to sa-say it back.”

“Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony!” The self-proclaimed headmaster clapped. “First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake-you students are so full of potential and you all represent the  _hope of the world_. And to protect such splendid hope...”

~~_ Hope. Such a strange concept. I wonder what the foil of it would be- _ ~~

Ouma shook his head, focusing back on the words of the bear who was  still speaking .

“...you will all live a communal life together  _solely within the confines of this school_.  Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life...” The red eye gleamed as Monokuma snickered. “There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here _until the day you die_! Such is the school life you've been assigned.”

_What the actual hell was this? Was this a joke? To stay at the academy until you die... was this the best option?_ Ouma brought his thumb to his lips, biting softly on the skin as thoughts ran through his head.  _If there were obvious security here, hence the plates over the windows and the giant sealed door, then was the outside world that bad? There seemed to be everything provided for them in here, so why not just stay?_

The only thing that bothered the leader was, were the plates and locked doors meant to keep something out... or something  in . 

“-Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school...” Naegi reasoned, bringing Ouma back to the present. “They’re there to keep us trapped in here?”

“That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help...help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!” The bear cheered. 

“Come on, what the hell is this?” Kuwata said indignation apparent in his tone. “I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke.”

“Yeah! Cut this shit out! It isn't funny anymore!” Owada chimed in. 

“You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you,” Monokuma shook his head, gaze at the floor. “But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth.”

~~_ Ugh, Ouma hated lies. _ ~~

“Having to live here forever would be...quite the problem,” Ludenburg quietly spoke, holding her hand in front on her mouth. 

“Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?” Monokuma almost sounded sad. The mocking tone of his voice twisted Ouma the wrong way however and he narrowed his eyes. 

“Oh but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There  is  one way for you to leave the school...”

Fukawa looked up, visibly shaking. “R-really...?”

“But why?” Ouma cut in, sick of the shit the bear was spreading. “Why would we want to leave this place?”

“Are you crazy?” Kuwata cried, spinning on the leader. “Of course we want to leave! We’re trapped here with some psycho teddy bear!”

(“Not a teddy bear!” The headmaster cried but was ignored by all the students.)

“Ok, and?” The purple haired boy crossed his arms. “We have food, water, shelter and company. We are safe here, or at least safer that whatever’s out there. It isn’t such a bad plan.” 

“However! As your lovely headmaster, I've crafted a special thing for those of you who would like to leave! I call it...the Graduation Clause!” Monokuma said, waving his arms to get attention back on him. Once everyone’s eyes were back on him, the bear continued. 

“Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to  _disrupt_ that harmony, they and they  alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my dear, dear, students, is the Graduation Clause!”

“What do you mean by ‘ _ disrupt the harmony _ ’?” Togami asked, slowly and calmly, his hand touching the arm of his glasses. 

“Puhuhu...” The headmaster laughed. “Well, you know... If one person were to  _murder_ another.”

The room was stunned into silence. 

“M- _ murder _ !?” Naegi cried, voice cracking. 

Monokuma carried on gleefully like no one had said anything. “Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter.  _You must kill someone if you want to leave_. It's as simple as that.” After another moment of painful silence, he continued. “The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.”

_Killing, eh_?  Ouma’s eyes widened as a shiver went down his spine.  _Kill someone to leave? What kind of sick this is this?! More importantly, he narrowed his eyes , who is in charge of directing this thing?_

“Puhuhu. I bet  _that_ got your brain juices flowing!” The bear snickered. “Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But if you see that  hope and it gets murdered, it definitely creates a darkened shadow of  _despair_.”

**~~_ Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope-Despair, noun, the complete loss or absence of hope- _ ~~ **

Ouma clutched his head as words piled into it, drowning out the next few words from his classmates and that damned bear. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but it burned as he brushed it off. Slowly, the leader recovered, sending what was hopefully a reassuring smile Kirigiri’s way, head pounding. 

“-I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it,” Monokuma waved a hand at Kuwata who had apparently been speaking a moment before. 

“We know what it means, that's not the problem!  _Why_ do we have to kill each other!?” Asahina said, crossing her arms seemingly pout-glaring at Monokuma. 

“Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!” Yamada tacked on. 

“...Blabbering?” The headmaster was quiet now, looking at the floor. “Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!?” He looked up, dead eyes filled with unnatural fire. “Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it do you? ‘Let us go, let us go!’ You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen, from this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!”

“Alright, come on... how long are ya gonna keep this up?” Enoshima spat. 

“Eh?” The bear replied

“Ya got us, okay? Ya scared the hell out of us. So ya can go ahead and reveal the trick now.” The fashionista continued. 

“Reveal the trick...?” Monokuma seemed confused. 

“Yeah, cuz I mean...” Ouma watched as the poor girl seems to lose steam in why she was saying. “Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like...” 

“Dude, shut the hell up and get outta my way,” Mondo, thankfully ended the pitiful excuse that was Enoshima, carefully shoving her aside and standing in front of Monokuma, eyes glaring and fists clenched. “Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke  _is_ this!?”

“Joke?” The bear chuckled, hands in front of his mouth. “What, you mean like your hair?”

Mondo growled, lunging at Monokuma’s neck and holding him up in the air.

“Gotcha, you little piece of shit!” Mondo snarled, shaking the bear in his grasp. “I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!”

“Waah!” Monokuma flailed his as about, screeching like a siren. “Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!”

“Shut the fuck up!” The biker brought the self proclaimed headmaster closer to his face as he sneered. “Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ...”

The bear started beeping. 

“What, no smartass comeback this time!?”

The beeping got faster. 

“Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!”

“Watch out!” Kirigiri yelled from beside Ouma and Ludenburg, startling the leader and gambler. “Get rid of it!”

Mondo froze as he beeping got even faster. “Huh...?” 

“Hurry up and throw it!” The unknown ultimate cried. 

Mondo, still obviously frozen from what Kirigiri was saying, did as she said. The bear got maybe seven feet away before it detonated, metal flying everywhere. Ouma ducked to the ground, clutching his ringing ears and groaned as he felt small pieces of shrapnel land on him. 

Faintly, the leader could hear Mondo whisper-yelling but choose to ignore it in favor of gritting his teeth. The smell of gunpowder made the leader’s nose scrunch, adding to the boy’s pain. He groaned as he heard his classmates muttering softly around him. 

“But you know...” Fujisaki started softly. “This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?”

“I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!”

Another bear, identical to the one what had blown up popped up by the podium where the first one had appeared. 

“Uwah!” Kuwata wailed. “There's another one?!”

“You sick son of a bitch!” Mondo growled, popping his knuckles. “You seriously tried to kill me just now!”

“Well, yeah,” The bear replied, studying it’s claws. “I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt.”

Enoshima let out a whimper. “H-hey... So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of ya around here somewhere?”

“Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right?” There was a pause after that warning before Monokuma spoke again. “Puhuhu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!”

“Th-that's not even punishment,” Asahina shivered. “That's just...wrong...”

“Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you...” The headmaster pulled out a tablet from behind his back. Ouma blinked in surprise.  _ Where did he even get that?_

“This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The e-Handbook!” Monokuma cheered before clearing his throat. “Ahem. Yes, well, moving on. This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!

“You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated,” The bear glared out at the students. “Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. Okay, well...that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And...see ya!”

Then, as if he had never been there, Monokuma disappeared. 

“Okay so first off,” Ouma started, arms crossed. “What the hell was that all about?”

Mondo glared at the leader. “You’re telling me you didn’t listen to any of that?”

“Nono, I listened. I’m just wondering who actually believes all that crap.”

Maizono tilted her head. “What do you mean, Ouma-san?”

“I mean,” The leader let out a yawn. “That bear was obviously spreading B.S. around like butter. As I said before, why would we want to kill to leave this perfectly good place for somewhere that is unknown?”

There was silence as everyone let that thought sink in. Most of his apparent classmates just glared at him, before eventually ignoring what he had said. 

“So, guys...” Ishimaru said anxiously. “How would you define what we just experienced?”

“Tch,” The purple haired boy muttered. “Your loss.”

“We have to l-live here forever...? Or...k-kill?” Fukawa sobbed. “I-I don’t understand! Wh-what...? What just happened!?”

“Everyone, we need to just calm down,” Kirigiri stated. “First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a ‘communal life’ together until the day we die. And the other choice is...” She trailed off, studying the other students. 

”If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?” Ludenburg continued for her, seemingly faking shock. 

”But...killing someone...” Fujisaki mumbled. “That's...”

”We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is...” Yamada wailed. This is...this is just...! What IS this!?”

”A lie, is what it is,” Ishimaru exclaimed. “All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!” 

”Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake,” Togami cut in. “What matters is...”

”Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?” Ouma finished for him, finger in front of his lips. 

_Is there?_ The leader wondered, looking around at his classmates.  _Could there be someone here who is genuinely thinking about murdering to leave?_

_I mean, we are all strangers. There’s virtually no trust between us and it seems most of us don’t really care about the others. _

~~_ But aren’t we supposed to be the hope of this world- _ ~~

_I would be more surprised if there wasn’t  any murders regarding these circumstances. _

~~_ Murders would cause **despair** - _ ~~

_ But does anyone here have the guts? To betray or kill someone else? _

Ouma’s eyes swept across the room, regarding all of his classmates with narrowed, suspicious eyes, aware that everyone else was doing the same. 

_ I’ll have to keep an eye out. I  _ won’t _ die here._

♚

** PART ONE **

** CLASS 78 **

_** TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC ** _

~~_** "HOPE VS. DESPAIR" ** _ ~~ ~~~~

~~** PUSH TO START ** ~~

**Author's Note:**

> Before any of you ask, yes this is the same work that I posted almost a year ago and then deleted. I did pick it back up again, but I make no promises whatsoever for the updating schedule, as I am terrible at following deadlines and with all of this craziness going on in the world I don’t want to burn myself out. I hope you stick around and enjoy this work with me! Feel free to ask me questions in the comments I will respond as well (and as spoiler free) as I can!


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